Some banks in Ghana have lauded the decision by the central bank to increase the minimum capital requirement of banks.
According to them this will provide a platform for banks to perform bigger transactions and intervene in the productive sectors of the economy.
In an interview with Citi Business News, the Managing Director of Capital Bank, Rev. FitzGerald Odonkor said the bank is ready to comply with all decisions taken by the Central Bank.
“We think that the motive for this increase is a laudable one so that we can have stronger banks that can do bigger transactions and be able to intervene more in the productive sectors of the economy.” he said.
“We also think that the Central Bank will continue to consult the various stakeholders in the implementation of any new increase in the capital requirement and we as a bank are poised to be able to satisfy whatever new requirement there are because we believe that especially for the indigenous banks would probably be given some dispensations to be able to do it.” he stated.
Central Bank to increase Minimum Capital Requirement.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) earlier stated of a possible increase of the minimum capital that every commercial bank must have in order to operate in Ghana.
This they said was one of the several measures they are considering to limit number of banks in operations and improve upon their financial position in order to finance bigger projects in the country.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) then went ahead to set up a committee to review and recommend appropriate levels for increasing the minimum capital requirement of commercial banks possibly before the end of the year.
Currently, commercial banks operate with a regulatory minimum capital requirement of 120 million cedis.
It is unclear how much the commercial banks will be expected to revise their capital to but some industry watchers have suggested that the banks may be reviewing their capital to at least 200 million cedis.
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By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana